[[link removed]]

WANT MORE EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE? COPY
MASSACHUSETTS’ MILLIONAIRE’S TAX  
[[link removed]]


 

Omar Ocampo
October 29, 2024
Inequality.org
[[link removed]]

*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

_ The Fair Share Amendment demonstrates how a straightforward and
well-designed progressive tax policy that targets millionaires can
achieve popular support and be easy to enforce. But even more
important is how the revenues are spent. _

, Inequality.org

 

This past summer, the Governor of Massachusetts Maura Healey signed a
budget bill
[[link removed]]
that guaranteed universal access to in-state community colleges. No
matter age or socioeconomic background
[[link removed]],
irrespective of the degree or certificate sought, the tuition and fees
at these fifteen institutions of higher learning are waived.

The $117 million public investment allocated to the MassEducate
program [[link removed]] was made
possible two years ago when, in an exercise of direct democracy, Bay
State voters defied the tenets of neoliberal ideology. They approved a
landmark progressive tax bill – known as the Fair Share Amendment
[[link removed]] – that imposed a four percent
surtax on annual incomes above one million dollars. 

Lawmakers have seen an extraordinary windfall for the state’s
coffers. A total of $2.2 billion
[[link removed]]
was collected in the first full year of implementation, far exceeding
the original forecast of $1 billion.

The anti-tax movement’s dystopian warnings have failed to
materialize. Massachusetts continues to thrive as an economic hub with
attractive amenities and opportunities despite being a “less
competitive” business market. The last five quarters have seen
sustained economic growth with real GDP increasing 3.3 percent
[[link removed]] in the second
quarter of 2024. High net worth households and individuals with seven
figure salaries have not fled
[[link removed]] in
droves to tax free havens and, judging by the revenue collected,
strategies to shift income or avoid the surtax altogether fell flat.

Even the fear of bureaucratic mismanagement and the diversion of funds
away from education and transportation were unfounded. According to
the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, the first two budgets
[[link removed]] put forth by the
state have allocated Fair Share funds to these two sectors.

We already see glimpses of the transformative potential the Fair Share
Amendment can have on public finances and the positive impact it can
have across the Commonwealth. For the fiscal year of 2025
[[link removed]], $762
million has been allocated to education initiatives. Breakfast and
lunch are now free for all students attending public schools. $80
million has been awarded to financial aid programs like MassGrant Plus
for state university students. The transportation sector
[[link removed]] has
also been awarded a plush $538 million to improve public
infrastructure, lower transit fares, service debt, expand free
regional bus service outside of the Greater Boston Area, and provide
worker training.

The Fair Share Amendment demonstrates how a straightforward and
well-designed progressive tax policy that targets millionaires can
achieve popular support and be easy to enforce. According to my
analysis of income and tax data from the IRS in 2021
[[link removed]],
individuals who earn a million dollars or more account for less than
one percent of all taxpayers in the state. In other words, the tax is
applied narrowly. 

But more importantly, how the revenues are spent from Fair Share
underscores a commitment to equality and social justice. For every
childcare grant given, for every early literacy program attended, for
every free meal consumed in a public school, for every college-level
course completed, and for every journey taken for free on a new bus
route, society as a whole benefits.

An inequality fighting tax policy creates a better learning
environment, and it expands access to jobs and opportunities that
otherwise would not have been available absent the fair share. It
builds the common good. Voters in Illinois will get the opportunity to
follow in the footsteps of Massachusetts next week with a ballot
measure — called the Property Tax Relief and Fairness Referendum —
that seeks to implement a 3 percent surcharge
[[link removed]]
on incomes above a million dollars. If passed and enforced, the
estimated $4.5 billion in revenue generated will be used to lessen the
financial burden on homeowners who are currently paying extremely high
property taxes in the Prairie State.

Massachusetts’ Fair Share should serve as a model to other states
seeking to implement their own progressive taxes on million-dollar
incomes to boost social spending, even including those who currently
do not have a state income tax.

===

Omar Ocampo is a researcher at the Program on Inequality and the
Common Good at the Institute for Policy Studies.

* Wealth taxation; Massachusetts Millionaire's Tax;
[[link removed]]

*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

 

 

 

INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT

 

 

Submit via web
[[link removed]]

Submit via email
Frequently asked questions
[[link removed]]
Manage subscription
[[link removed]]
Visit xxxxxx.org
[[link removed]]

Twitter [[link removed]]

Facebook [[link removed]]

 




[link removed]

To unsubscribe, click the following link:
[link removed]